The spoiler warning for this devlog also involves the narrative a bit, as it's impossible to discuss what makes this level a big deal without giving away a minor plot detail.
Last chance to stop reading...
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At the end of level 4, the protagonist has all of their abilities disabled.
Level 5 is a metroidvania in which you recover them.
This is why this section took longer than the previous ones. It's basically 3 small levels connected together, which requires more assets and a change in level design. While the game's system handled the change pretty well, it was quite a challenge to plan out the map so everything came together nicely. Still, the final result is something I'm really happy with.
The map itself is actually rather simple to prevent the player from getting lost easily. There are also a couple if times in which you can take an alternate route one you've gotten an specific ability.
Also, when I said 3 levels, I don't mean just the environments. There are 2.5 new bosses in this section.
Yes, two point five. One of them is less of a fight and more of a series of spooky events.